1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of the present invention relates to a paper ejecting mechanism and an ink-jet printer having the paper ejecting mechanism, and more particularly, to a paper ejecting mechanism, which is driven by an ejecting roller to rotate, supports a sheet of paper in the rotating direction of the ejecting roller, and ejects the sheet of paper when a printing operation is completed, and an ink-jet printer having the ejecting mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a conventional feeding and ejection system for an ink-jet printer. An input tray 10 is installed at a rear side of a printer, and a sheet of paper P in the input tray 10 is fed by a pickup roller 11 to a print path. The sheet of paper P fed to the print path is inserted between a feed roller 13 and a pinch roller 14 and enters into a print zone by driving the feed roller 13. The print zone corresponds to a printhead 16 of an ink cartridge 15 in which a printing operation is performed on the paper P. The ink cartridge 15 is mounted on a carriage return frame 17 and moves perpendicular to the print path along a carriage return shaft 18 by way of a driving unit (not shown). A guide 20 which supports the paper P within the print zone flat, is installed below the printhead 16. The printed paper P travels along the print path and is fed between an ejecting roller 21 and a star wheel 23. If the printing operation is completed, the ejecting roller 21 pushes the paper P in a horizontal direction and ejects the paper P into an output tray 30.
However, in the paper ejecting mechanism having the above structure, a front end of the paper P passing the print zone and the ejecting roller is moved downwardly, causing the paper P within the print zone to move up and contact the printhead 16 and to be smeared.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of an ejection system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,537. A sheet of paper 50 placed on an input tray 40 is transferred by a pickup roller 41 and a feed roller 42 into a print zone formed below a printhead 44 of an inkjet cartridge 43 and stays flat on a pivot mechanism 45 for supporting the paper 50. The paper 50 is supported by wings 46 on both sides of a print path while a printing operation is performed on the paper 50. Thus, the paper 50 within the print zone is prevented from lifting up during the printing operation, contacting the printhead 44, and being smeared. Subsequently, the paper 50 on which the printing operation is completed falls into an output tray 49 while the wings 46 move up by way of a cam (not shown). Then, due to an interaction between the pivot mechanism 45 and an arm 48, the paper 50 is pushed into the output tray 49.
However, this ejection system requires an additional cam and a driving source so as to drive the wings 46, which will result in an increase in the number of components, and manufacturing costs increase.